


no mario, just peachy

by tokyomew



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Feelings Realization, Halloween, M/M, Mutual Pining, is this angsty?, kun is there for a split second, maybe a little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-13 22:23:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16480865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tokyomew/pseuds/tokyomew
Summary: Renjun looks down at his own costume and sighs. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. He was supposed to have a Tom. And it just so happens his hypothetical cat arch nemesis was stolen away from him by a certain video game character that he wants to argue is not even relevant.





	no mario, just peachy

**Author's Note:**

> oh happy halloween indeed
> 
> unbeta-ed

Renjun adjusts his mouse ear headband for the millionth time and sighs. He nearly rubs at his face with both hands in anguish, but he remembers the lines of black pencil eyeliner running along his cheeks and on the tip of his nose decides against it. He does, however, feed into his desires to look up and glare holes into the back of the pink head of hair underneath a green cap just across the room, a world away.

It’s not usually like this. Usually, it’s Renjun glaring at the blonde head of hair under the red cap, but this entire year has been all sorts of wrong for the boy, and it started with when his best and most trusted friend and roommate got on a one-way plane to Canada two months ago.

“I can’t believe you’re really doing all this for a _guy_ ,” Renjun had accused glumly. He and Donghyuck were sitting in the Starbucks within the airport, the latter adorned with a grin that screamed pity. “I would never do this to you!”

“First of all, I’m not leaving you. Second of all, you were friends with Mark long before you even met me! Aren’t you happy for us? Your two closest friends?” Donghyuck asked genuinely. Of course Renjun was happy for them. Donghyuck had been planning this surprise birthday visit ever since Mark told the group he was moving back to his hometown for school. Despite the distance, he and Donghyuck’s relationship of three years was still growing strong. Renjun knew how excited he was to surprise Mark and how much they loved each other. But he also had his own reasons for being upset about the entire ordeal and they were maybe just a little selfish.

“I can be happy and angry at the same time,” Renjun had said stubbornly. “Do you have to go for so long though? What will I do without you? We’re the party duo! Ren and Hyuck! Without you, I’m just Ren.” It was kind of true- Donghyuck had always been the more sociable of the two, dragging Renjun off to parties and mixers when the latter was insistent on finishing this one last season of Friends. Although, Donghyuck also got him to _start_ watching Friends, so it was only right he ended that. (They ended up skipping out on a frat party to marathon the last two seasons together.)

“You’re being so dramatic. I’ll be back and we’ll be receiving noise complaints about blasting Michael Jackson down our hall before you know it. You know it’s always been our dream to spend Christmas together in Mark’s hometown with all the snow,” he explained dreamily. Of course Renjun knew that- it was all that he would talk once the month of September hit and it was official holiday season for Donghyuck.

“It snows here too,” Renjun pointed out in a mopey grumble. “Why can’t Mark just come here?”

“Renjun,” Donghyuck said in warning. It was only Donghyuck who knew this side of Renjun and only he who could reason with the boy, having literally lived with him as his roommate for a good handful of years now and even sticking by his side through his weird alien obsession that resulted in him building his own contraption to communicate to other lifeforms out in the unknowns of the universe above. That particular project took three weeks of being holed up in his room during their summer break and Donghyuck being the amazing friend he is, sat in that very room and worked right alongside him despite having little to no interest in the topic. It didn’t even work. Renjun, in all of his misery, declared he was no longer going to be associated with aliens. He supposed that he owed his friend for living through all of that.

“Alright, whatever! I guess I’ll just go to Yukhei’s Halloween party solo and find someone else to go around dangling mistletoe over unsuspecting victims at Sicheng’s holiday get together,” he relented begrudgingly. Donghyuck had just shaken his head and laughed at his friend. 

“That’s the spirit!” And then he was on a plane flying 5000 miles away from Renjun and their holiday best friend traditions.

It’s apparent as to why Renjun couldn’t help but feel just a little bit more bitter than usual- slightly more irked at things than he typically can be with his fiery personality of “it’s my way or the highway.” Thus, he blames all of his bad mood on Donghyuck.

That is until the head of pink hair turns around and makes eye contact with him and his entire expression lights up. Renjun all but screams as his mind goes into a panic. They’re totally approaching him- there’s no way they could be headed anywhere other than straight for the isolated corner Renjun had found and tucked himself into. But why were they coming?

Renjun supposes he looks a bit sad there by himself. The party was raging on, as all of Yukhei’s parties did. The music was spooky enough to be festive but hyped enough to encourage dancing and grinding and all sorts of sweaty activities that had people like Renjun steering far from the dance floor. The ambiance of Yukhei’s house was dim and just a bit grimy. Still lighter than a club though, and for that Renjun was grateful. The taller boy always played off his parties as gatherings or get-togethers, but all his friends and attendees knew better. Yukhei threw parties for all of two reasons: to get wasted, and to get other people wasted.

Renjun was halfway there, nursing his fourth solo cup of whatever mixed drink was being served from his pumpkin shaped punch bowl sitting out in the open on the kitchen counter. It was only just slightly sus. But Kun had personally given him the cup- and filled it when it was empty- so there wasn’t much Renjun could do but just drink the damn thing. It didn’t taste too bad, and it definitely didn’t taste like anyone had drugged it, so maybe it was all fine. Although, he would admit he was slightly more drunk than he should’ve been if he was confronted about it.

Except it wasn’t fine at all because the Mario brothers were still weaving through the crowd of bouncing partygoers trying to get to Renjun and he still hadn’t come up with a reason as to why. He sticks with pity.

“Renjun!” Jaemin calls out first with that charming smile of his directed straight to him. Of course it’s Jaemin. It was always Jaemin lately.

Renjun has grown to be much more observant. He’s learned to shut his damn mouth since Donghyuck had left. He’d forgotten how much of an influence his best friend had made on his personality and how he always had to raise his energy, his voice, to match him. However, he’s usually the first to fall silent at their friend meetings. So instead of yelling over the table to Donghyuck about how Britney Spears’ best song was Lucky and not Toxic because public recognition does not equal quality songwriting, he finds himself noticing things he’s never noticed before and he wonders to himself how he had never seen it before.

It started simple- he stared at Jeno. No shame. He would proudly admit it, openly and honestly. But not for the reasons most people may assume. He stares at him to glare at him, to watch his every move like a hawk and make sure he’s not up to any funny business.

It was like a game to them. Some kind of twisted push and pull where they end up at each other’s necks (mostly Renjun at Jeno’s because Jeno loves getting a rise out of him and Renjun’s just too sensitive to stay put.) and the group has to put them in their own corners. Jisung had once called their little game flirting to which Renjun violently denied with a cherry tomato launched at the younger’s head and Jeno had just sat there at the cafe table they were all having Sunday brunch at and smiled with the right side of his mouth and only the right side, looking smug and satisfied. Renjun truly hated his guts and how much he got his mind all twisted.

That same day though, he had seen it start. Jaemin had been sitting right beside Jeno, as he always resorted to. Somehow it felt different though- off. Jeno had smeared ketchup on the side of his mouth like the clumsy, messy fool he was and Renjun had done what was right: make a snide comment on it to embarrass him. Jeno didn’t have time to bite back though, or even frown because before he knew it, Jaemin’s finger had gone and swiped the sauce off his face.

It happened it slow motion. Jaemin’s thumb reaching out towards Jeno’s face. It grazed his bottom lip ever so slightly, and Renjun watched as it did. He watched on as Jaemin then looks at the red that had then been transferred to his finger from Jeno’s face and without a second thought, brought the same finger to his own mouth and licked it straight off. The two of them stay blank-faced for the rest of the meal, Jeno mumbling a soft “thanks,” to Jaemin. The entire exchange gave Renjun chills and also boiled his damn bones. He hadn’t even understood why.

But these things kept happening. Brushes of hands as they walked side by side because they always seemed to walk right next to each other, barely leaving room for the Lord. Renjun scoffed at them more than once about it to which they both give him confused looks and Renjun just looks away more flustered than angry. Renjun even learned that the two had recently moved in with one another since Jeno’s roommate had moved back home. What were they? Married? And now they were matching costumes at Yukhei’s Halloween party and right in front of Renjun, smiling brightly as if to say “you’re extremely left out right now and we felt so sorry for you that we had to come and rub our happiness into your face.”

“Hey,” Renjun says simply. He moves to stand with the other two, but then the room starts spinning so he plops right back down into the armchair he had been resting on. Maybe the drink was drugged after all. Or maybe his tolerance had dwindled due to the absence of his own personal best friend drink mixer.

“You alright?” It’s Jeno to speak this time, his low and gentle voice cutting through the booming Michael Jackson Thriller remix like a knife and damn, Renjun really wishes Donghyuck were here. Jeno almost sounds genuinely concerned for him and it makes his heart ache and his head throb. Why wasn’t he more interested in his costume partner right next to him?

“Yeah- peachy,” Renjun mumbles with a slight nod of the head that sends the room spinning again. He thinks he hears Jaemin chuckle and say something under his breath about that being punny or something, but he also can't bring himself to care much about what he's saying at all.

“What are you supposed to be?” Jaemin asks, his voice nasally and screechy to Renjun’s tipsy ears, making his head throb in an even worse way. His tone probably isn’t as condescending as Renjun makes it out to be, but he still takes the question with a grain of salt. 

He gives him his best version of a stink eye his intoxicated brain can manage and gestures to his mouse ears and outfit consisting of only brown articles of clothing.

“I’m Jerry,” he deadpans. When all he gets is silence back, he continues. “From Tom and Jerry.”

“Well, yeah I know that, but where’s your Tom?” Jaemin asks as if it’s the easiest, elementary question in the books. Renjun holds in a huff of a laugh.

“I don’t have one.” It comes out a little slurred. Next to Jaemin, Jeno nervously shifts his weight from one foot to the other. Renjun’s really starting to hate those obnoxiously large fake mustaches they’re both sporting. They’re uncomfortable to just look at.

“You don’t have one?” Jaemin questions like it’s impossible that Renjun didn’t have a counterpart to his costume. Renjun’s had enough of the conversation. He’s had enough of Jaemin’s annoyingly smooth voice thumping against his eardrums. He’s had enough of Jeno standing next to Jaemin looking like he belongs there in his red cap and overalls, perfectly matching with one another like a set. He’s had enough of Jeno looking at him with his twinkling eyes and concerned frown.

“No. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Renjun starts as he stands up again, still getting dizzy but he ignores it. He looks into his cup. There’s about half left. He downs the rest of his drink in one go. It slides down his throat with a sting bad enough to make his eyes water just the slightest bit. “My cup needs a refill.” He stomps away towards the kitchen, leaving the Mario brothers in the dust. He manages to avoid about a dozen different people trying to dance up on him.

Slamming his plastic red cup down as aggressively as he can manage in his state, he hollers for Kun.

“Should I suggest cutting you off, buddy?” Kun asks gently. Renjun’s surprised the dude is still actually here and not a figment of his imagination, clad in his halo and angel wings and all.

“Why are you always in here?”

“Someone’s gotta make sure the drinks aren’t spiked with… I don’t know- cocaine?” Kun makes a wild gesture as he talks and stray feathers fly about, distracting Renjun. The costume certainly suited him. Going against his own words, he takes Renjun’s cup and ladles some more of the mysterious concoction into it.

“You should really think about drinking some water or something though,” he suggests.

Renjun quirks his head at him and chuckles. “It’s a damn party, Kun.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to get wasted. Donghyuck isn’t gonna be around to hold your mouse ears when you’re puking your guts out- and I’m certainly not doing it either.” With the mention of his friend, Renjun’s mood sinks even more.

Donghyuck and his vacation and his happy relationship and his stable boyfriend who loves him and matches costumes with him and Renjun knows this because his Snapchat and Instagram and Facebook and literally every other form of social media had been flooded with pictures of Donghyuck with his freshly bubblegum pink dyed hair and Mark with his black hair in a red flannel. Screw Donghyuck and his cute cartoon inspired costume ideas. How did they even find a guitar shaped like an ax anyway? Must’ve DIY’d it.

Renjun imagines the couple sitting cross-legged in front of one another working on it, laughing and having the time of their lives. He imagines Mark helping Donghyuck dying his hair. He imagines them having friendly feuds over picking out the most accurate clothes to match their characters. Renjun almost starts weeping thinking about how he slaved over his hot glue gun making his own headband and how agonizing picking out clothes of all the uniform shade of brown was for him.

Renjun looks down at his own costume and sighs. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. He was supposed to have a Tom. And it just so happens his hypothetical cat arch nemesis was stolen away from him by a certain video game character that he wants to argue is not even relevant.

“Is there a reason you’re so wasted this early into this party?” Kun asks even though Renjun’s sure he knows the answer with his scarily accurate instincts.

“I miss Donghyuck,” Renjun mopes. Kun doesn’t seem satisfied with just that. He’s always been one to see right past him. He doesn’t press him about it though and pushes him away from the counter to tell him to go socialize.

With a groan, Renjun relents and shuffles back towards the party. He lets his head fall back in frustration when he sees that the Mario brothers haven’t moved from where they were standing in front of him in the corner. They’ve taken over his loner spot and were using it wrong. They weren’t being anti-social or sulky or brooding or anything, just happily conversing right there in front of the cushy armchair Renjun would give all the candy in the world to be sitting in at that moment.

Instead, Renjun turns and heads toward the stairway. He has to shove through some loiterers on the way up and ends up in a hallway. He picks a random, unsuspecting door and doesn’t even bother knocking before barging in. Luckily, he doesn’t walk in on anything explicit, in fact, he doesn’t walk in on anything at all.

The room is dark and empty, the only source of light being from a thin blue curtain hanging in front of a large window, allowing muted moonlight to filter in. As his eyesight adjusts, he steps into the room and closes the door behind him. From his great and drunken deduction skills, it’s a bedroom. It’s plain and there are really the bare necessities in it, a bed, dresser, desk, and not much else. No picture frames, no posters, no nothing that could help Renjun figure out whose room it belonged to. He doesn’t really care though.

Renjun walks to the window and pushes the curtain to the side. The moon is full and bright and he can see the leaves rustling on the trees planted in Yukhei’s yard. He wants nothing more than to just breathe so he unlocks the window and slides it open. He takes a seat on the windowsill and takes another sip of his drink before closing his eyes in an attempt to compose himself and his thoughts.

The boy knows he’s probably acting pretty stupid. His liver shouldn’t have to suffer for his anger. Besides, what was this anger coming from? Jealousy towards Donghyuck? He definitely didn’t like Mark. Mark was like a brother to him. Renjun wasn’t too keen on traveling to Canada either, so it wasn’t that. Was he angry Donghyuck had left him? It seemed like the easiest thing to blame it on. And it wasn’t as if it was a lie- he really was pretty bummed his best friend and roommate had just up and left for several months. He was far from upset about it though. He had come to terms with it and even though he missed his friend, his overwhelming happiness he felt when he saw how happy his friends were being together definitely surpassed whatever negative emotions he felt about it. And it wasn’t like Donghyuck didn’t Facetime him every other day. So what was irking him so much?

He thinks back to brunch. He thinks back to Jisung’s teasing words. He thinks back to the animated game character who also happened to be a plumber and a princess rescuer. He thinks back to the hours he had spent at thrift shops looking for just the right shade of brown to match his pants. He thinks until his drunken brain can’t handle it anymore and he slumps against the frame of the window. He’s tired of thinking. He’s tired of being upset and snappy and alone.

Renjun sits there for so long contemplating, so deeply embedded in his own thinking, he doesn’t even notice the sound of the door opening and closing gently behind him.

“Renjun?” a familiar voice calls to him, pulling him from his thoughts. Renjun turns around fast enough to give himself whiplash and groans out loud at the wave of nausea that hits him. He shuts his eyes to try and will away the lightheaded feeling, but not before seeing the red cap on the other boy’s head and that damned fake mustache that’s been retired from above his lip to tucked into his front overall pocket.

“I thought that was you- are you alright?” Jeno asks softly. Renjun doesn’t answer him and he doesn’t have to. Jeno walks over to him and sits on the other side of the windowsill, facing him.

“Why are you up here all alone?” he inquires worriedly. In his head, Renjun asks him to quit it, to quit acting so nice to him because all he’s ever been is annoying to him. Renjun can’t think of a time Jeno’s ever really fought back.

“Just needed some space,” he shrugs. They leave it at that. There are no other sounds in the room except for their intermingled breathing sounds and the bass of the music below them. Renjun stares at the shining moon and out of the corner of his eye, he can see Jeno staring at him. It makes him uneasy as well as curious.

It’s a minute of staring before Jeno breaks the silence. “I’m sorry,” he says simply. Renjun turns to look him in the eye. He looks so sincere, it almost breaks his heart.

“For what?” Renjun asks despite already knowing the reason. There was only one thing Jeno could be sorry for. And perhaps that was the root of all this damn angst Renjun was feeling from the moment he stepped foot into Yukhei’s house and saw Jeno and Jaemin laughing in their own bubble.

When Renjun first met Jeno, it was in their freshman year of college. Renjun and Donghyuck knew each other from high school, but Jeno knew Donghyuck from back in primary and had caught up with him at university. He was a welcomed addition to their friend group, even bringing in Jaemin and Chenle. They had clicked like a puzzle falling into place. But in the wrong ways. They knew how to push each other’s buttons and bicker at each other like no one had ever seen. Passersby would probably believe they really did hate each other.

They had a kind of strange, unspoken and unplanned tradition. The first time Renjun and Donghyuck had been invited to Yukhei’s first Halloween party was kind of a huge deal. At least to Donghyuck who made it a huge deal. He had told Renjun that everyone who ended up hooking up at Yukhei’s Halloween party got married and lived happily ever after. Of course, this wasn’t at all true and Yukhei had only ever thrown one Halloween party before, but Renjun didn’t want to burst his bubble, not when he was that excited. It was a pre-Mark era for the boy and he wanted nothing more than to be in a committed relationship where all of his love and physical affections were reciprocated. It was something even Renjun couldn’t provide for him, so he let Donghyuck believe in his weird rumors and he also let Donghyuck dress him up in whatever he wanted.

The first strange occurrence that night happens in their shared apartment.

“I thought you wanted to match?” Renjun had asked Donghyuck once he stepped out from the bathroom into the bedroom and saw Donghyuck wearing a black and white pinstripe suit, white and black face paint spread out on their vanity table. He glanced down at his own all-black outfit of leather pants and off the shoulder top. He anxiously placed his hands over his exposed shoulders.

“What are we supposed to be?” he asked again once his initial question went unanswered for too long. Donghyuck was busy applying paint to his face.  

“You’re so cute, Junnie,” he had laughed, not even bothering to turn towards him. “If we match, people will think we’re dating! If we are both separate halves of a set, someone will bound to be our matching piece and then we will live happily ever after with the men of our dreams. It’s the Yukhei Halloween party magic!” It was explained like it would be the most obvious occurrence in the world and that Renjun really was just a dense idiot. Renjun doesn’t question it and only trailed after Donghyuck to Yukhei’s house without a word of protest.

Though as soon as they arrived, they had been greeted by Jeno. There he had stood in his black pants, sleeveless shirt and slicked back black hair, looking like a dream. 

“Renjun?” he had exclaimed in a questioning manner as if he could not believe his eyes. Renjun had only looked back at him completely unamused as Donghyuck looked at the two of them in disbelief.

“Wow, Yukhei really does work magic,” Donghyuck had said just before bolting off into the rest of the party.

The rest of the night is avoiding Jeno and also avoiding people who came up to him asking if he was matching with Jeno.

The next two years are similar. Renjun showed up as Smurfette- bright neon yellow wig and all, Jeno opened the door clad in blue face paint, a fake white beard, and a red hat. The next year Renjun’s hair is dyed red and he’s thrown on a mermaid tail. Jeno’s there dressed in his white dress shirt and red belt. It was getting a little scary.

It was all different this year though. It was really the icing on the cake that along with the other changes, this just had to change as well.

“You don’t have to apologize. It’s not like we coordinate costumes anyways. It’s not a big deal,” Renjun says. He’s surprised how clearly the words come out, surprised how composed he sounds when on the inside he’s still quite bitter about how things have turned out.

“You don’t…” Jeno starts and trails off, as if unsure if he should continue. With a quirk of his eyebrow, Renjun urges him to finish. “You don’t really hate me, do you? 

It feels as if the air is knocked out of his lungs. Scratch that- it feels as if his lungs were popped out of his chest and onto the floor. What a stupid question.

“I do,” he replies stubbornly. He’s lying. He’s lying through his teeth. Jeno is everything he does not hate and more. He’s kind and he’s gentle and he’s really good at figuring him out and he’s also got that smile that makes him go weak in the knees and he’s even a decent singer and he’s constantly taking care of Renjun and honestly, the list goes on and on. He’s thought about these things on several occasions. But even intoxicated, Renjun is stubborn and ever so fearful. He’s scared, not of Jeno, but of commitment. He’s been through it all before, and seen it happen and fall completely apart before his very eyes. He has a hard time trusting, opening up and letting people in. It drives him up the wall how much he shields himself and how much he pushes away. Donghyuck has tried time and time again to break past his walls, but even he has let it go, accepting that Renjun simply can’t settle and he wasn’t really looking to.

Though, watching his friends be in love, be happy, Renjun can almost convince himself that perhaps he’s wrong and it’s just not quite his time yet. Still, the prospect of a relationship is enough to make him queasy, almost as much as whatever drink still lingers in his cup.

“Oh,” Jeno lets out and suddenly Renjun feels bad. And that’s rare. The last time he truly felt regretful was last year when he insulted Jeno’s cat and Jeno had been so upset he started ignoring him for a week. It was the longest week of his life.

They sit in silence again after that. Neither of them know where to start. Renjun knows there isn’t much for Jeno to say after that and it was truly up to him to pick things up where they were. It takes a lot out of him, but he takes one deep breathe and a sip of liquid confidence to center himself.

“Why did you match with Jaemin this year?” he says every word slowly as if carefully calculating each syllable in fear of messing up. He takes care of the tonality of his words, making sure he doesn’t sound too pushy or too much like he’s been secretly in love with Jeno for several years now and he’s been pushing him away because he’s absolutely terrified- no, definitely not that.

He likes what they have. He likes their comfortable silences and their playful bickering and he likes his buttons pushed since that means Jeno cares… right?

Jeno doesn’t respond. Renjun lets him sit there, pondering an answer that never comes. He doesn’t take notice of Jeno’s nervous glances at him. He doesn’t even notice Jeno hesitating to speak every few moments before decidedly shutting his mouth and joining him in staring off into the starry night. So Renjun tries again because he just can’t keep his mouth shut and the alcohol in his system isn’t doing him any favors in making his body obey his conscience that just happened to be screaming at him to shut the hell up already.

“Is Jaemin your boyfriend?” he asks in the most uncondescending way he can manage. Jeno turns to him, blinks, and blinks again.

“What? No- what?” He’s incredulous, sputtering and waving his hands around like a madman. It makes Renjun’s head spin trying to follow his actions. “Definitely not,” he sighs in finality.

Renjun doesn’t understand. The signs were all there: the touchiness, the fond eyes, the living arrangements, even their matching costumes. (Because it all led back to the costumes.)

“You’re matching costumes though?” It comes off as more of a question than an observation. Jeno stares at him in disbelief and his eyes look so twinkly and loving in the moonlight, Renjun has to force himself to tear away before he’s engulfed in them.

“Mario and Luigi are brothers, Renjun,” he says, half-jokingly. It takes about a minute to process this fully. Even after the minute, Renjun can only stare at Jeno blankly.  

“We’re not dating- he’s my best friend!” Jeno explains exasperatedly. He’s much more animated than usual- or maybe he’s just being defensive. Either way, it’s not his typical composure of collected and unbothered. Somehow, it makes it easier to talk to him.

“And if that’s your dating criteria,” Jeno takes a pause before continuing his sentence and although Renjun completely anticipates what he says next, drunk or not, it still knocks the air out of his lungs for the second time. “What are we, then?”

Renjun’s brain blanks long enough for Jeno to turn sheepish at his own words. He takes a hand and runs it across the nape of his neck, head tilting down to mask a flush. 

“I don’t know,” Renjun answers in a whisper. It’s so low Jeno has to lean in to hear him and because Renjun’s drunk and Jeno looks so, so pretty under the stars his body gravitates towards the other boy at the same time and then they’re inches apart. Their faces mirror each other in redness and although Renjun’s breath is hot and heavily laced with the scent of liquor, Jeno thinks it smells sweet.

“What do you think?” Renjun asks again. And again, it’s quiet- so quiet Jeno leans impossibly closer and suddenly it’s just them. The sounds of their breathing drown out the noise of the party. Their knees are touching. Jeno smells like cinnamon. It smells good and it makes Renjun feel intoxicated even if he already is. He’s warm and tingly in a way he knows can’t be attributed to the alcohol running through his system and he really can’t complain either. His heart patters against his ribcage like a hummingbird in its cage.

Jeno places a shaky hand on Renjun’s thigh and there are his eyes again, sparkly and warm and perfect, like stolen bits of the universe tucked into his skull and hidden behind waves of eyelashes. His eyes are the great unknowns and Renjun craves to discover.

He’s so enamored he forgets to breathe, forgets to anything. He even forgets to listen. But he catches the movement of lips- how could he forget the lips? Thin, but shaped so prettily. Those lips were guilty of spewing petty insults and annoying teasing at him, but Renjun has no doubts he would worship them all the same.

“What?” he has to ask. So he tunes back into the moment for just a second longer to listen, to break away from his trance.

“I said,” Jeno breathes out, breath fanning over Renjun’s face and it’s minty. He pauses again. He seems to do that a lot, as if waiting for the perfect timing to execute his words and if he were to be honest, Renjun was getting just a little impatient. Another of Jeno’s warm hands reaches up, brushing against Renjun’s jaw tentatively. His skin burns where they touch.

“I think I want to kiss you,” he says finally. Eruptions go off in Renjun’s head. Air horns, sirens, strobe lights, even a pinata- they’re all there in Renjun’s imaginative headspace. He feels every emotion at once: happiness, excitement, joy, confusion, danger, and bliss. His head throbs again, but he can’t be bothered to wince at it. He’s much too focused on the now, what’s right in front of him, waiting for him.  

Jeno leans in closer and closer and their noses graze each others and Jeno’s tilting Renjun’s head with his warm hand and Renjun’s eyes are fluttering shut, and nothing else matters in that moment except everything matters at the same time and then- the warmth is gone, the lips that threatened to press against his are far from doing that, and the party comes rushing back into their moment as if it never left. And Renjun is still breathless. He finds the time to wince now.

Jeno jumps so much he nearly tips over and out of the window. Luckily, he can brace himself on the frame and Renjun’s leg enough to lean himself back up straight.

“It’s-a me!” the noise slurs obnoxiously. Renjun’s eyes flutter open again and look towards the new source of light invading his vision. His eyes sting for just a moment while adjusting to the brightness. He sees the silhouette of Jaemin in his stupid hat and his stupid mustache and that goddamn smile. It’s bright, completely oblivious, and sloppy.

Jeno groans beside him. “ _I’m_ Mario, Jaemin. You’re _Luigi_. You don’t say that, I do.” Renjun watches as the boy buries his face in his hands in annoyance and god- he really misses those hands on his face.

Jaemin shakes his head in a way akin to a child. The pink hair that peeks out from under his cap flops about with the aggressive motion. Renjun wonders how the boy could’ve gotten so wasted in such a short amount of time.

“I know that,” he garbles. “When I say that you’re supposed to say ‘Mario.’” Jaemin’s easygoing laughter fills the air and lessens the tension just a smidge.

“Stop being such a downer in here in the dark,” he laughs again. He’s a giant ball of giggling mess, and it brings a smile to Renjun’s face. After- whatever- just happened, or what nearly happened, the usual annoyance he felt towards the boy had dissipated. It was almost as if he was jealous of him. Renjun laughs at himself once he comes to the realization and Jeno is stuck there confused between two laughing boys.

“Alright,” Jeno finally says after they’ve finally settled to huffs from chuckles. “Let’s go.” Renjun stays planted on the windowsill and turns his head back towards the outside. He watches a buzzed Jaehyun stumble into the cobweb-covered brush to the side of the front lawn for exactly four seconds before he notices in his peripherals that Jeno had stood up, but not moved much aside from that. 

Renjun turns back to Jeno with a tilt of the head and a quirk of an eyebrow. He stands there in his overalls, red shirt, and red hat, a stupidly fond smile on his lips and an outstretched hand held out just for him. Renjun’s eyes widen and then his face blooms into a smile to match his. He takes his hand. It is warm, just as it had been when it rested on his jaw just moments ago, and although Renjun still misses the feeling, he thinks he can be satisfied with just this too- at least for now.

Together with a stumbling Luigi guiding them out of the room and down the stairs with some difficulty, they take on the rest of the party together.

 

\+ BONUS +

 

“What am I going to do?” Jeno cries with his hands wringing his own hair on his scalp.

“Quit that, you’re gonna start balding,” Jaemin scolds without even looking up at the other boy who was in the midst of a mental breakdown. Jaemin is reclined comfortably against the loveseat in living room aggressively playing Candy Crush.

“What am I gonna do?” he just repeats with even more distress in his voice. Jeno paces around the cramped rectangular space in front of Jaemin and shakes his head frantically. “He’s never gonna fall in love with me, Jaemin.” The distraught boy finally halts and slumps down along one of the walls, hopeless.

“You’re honestly such an idiot to think he believes in the whole Halloween party myth. It’s been- what? Three years already?” Jaemin’s words make Jeno wince. It’s not like he didn’t know it was ridiculous, but he was desperate. He had crushed on Renjun from the moment he laid eyes on him. His flatmate’s next words shock him though.

“He already likes you, man. You just have to go for it,” he encourages. Jeno has heard that before. He’s heard it from Donghyuck who was seriously getting fed up with his constant stream of texts asking how Renjun was doing and what his favorite color was again and what songs is he listening to lately and have you ever noticed how his eyes sparkle?

This whole scam had been Donghyuck’s idea before anyone else's and Jeno blames him entirely for his dependency on it now, and also on his mental breakdown. 

When they had first met, Donghyuck had seen right through him. It was a lunch outing and under the table Jeno had been reading a text from the boy reading, “ _u r so into junnie arent u_ ,” complete with a winking emoji and everything. At this, Jeno had flushed a great deal and across the table, Renjun had teased him for it.

Just weeks after that was their first college party. Jeno had known Yukhei through Jaemin, and thus was given a free invite to the Halloween bash. He thanked the heavens for it since he knew Renjun would also be in attendance. As he had been bombarded with texts from Donghyuck about what he was going to be going as and then attacked again with questions on what he himself was going to be, he received another text from the boy amongst the others.

 

**from: goofy (hyuck)**

_wouldnt it be sooooo cute if u and renjunnie matched costumes_

 

**to: goofy (hyuck)**

_why would we be matching?_

 

**from: goofy (hyuck)**

_havent u heard the rumor about people unintentionally matching costumes at yukheis party and then ending up together????_

 

**to: goofy (hyuck)**

_no_

 

**from: goofy (hyuck)**

_well… if ur interested… im dressing junnie up as sandy from grease ;) but the hot version not the lame one. and if theres a sandy theres gotta be a danny!_

 

And it goes like that. Jeno falls into this habit of texting Donghyuck just a few days before the annual holiday celebration and Renjun absolutely fumes at the sight of him every year. Despite that, they always do end up taking some pretty cute selfies together that Jeno still cherishes. Plus, angry Renjun means his ears get all red and Jeno gets to admire his adorable frowning face all night. Even negative attention from Renjun, Jeno considered to be good attention. He lived for it.

This year is different though. Donghyuck hadn’t responded to any of his texts and the party was in a day. Jeno knew his friend was in Canada, frolicking amongst the moose in maple orchids with his boyfriend, but he also knew the other boy knew that Halloween was rapidly approaching and he couldn’t have bothered to just text him back with a simple answer as to what Renjun was planning to be for Halloween? 

“I can’t go for it when we’re not matching, Jaemin. It’s a _tradition_ ,” he explains with wild hand gestures. “He won’t accept me if he’s Little Red Riding Hood and I’m a ketchup bottle!”

“Then don’t be a ketchup bottle?”

Jeno groans into his hands. “You don’t get it.”

“No, I don’t. But what if you made him jealous instead?” Jaemin suggests, sitting up with a glint in his eye. Jeno’s confused expression calls for him to elaborate. “Like, what if we matched instead? Won’t he be so pissed?”

“As much as I like him when he’s angry- that sounds like a horrible idea.”

“Listen. If he’s upset that we’re matching that’s just solid evidence that he does like you back- not that we need it because everyone but you and him seem to recognise that, but aren’t I onto something here?”

Jeno listens to Jaemin’s explanation and just shakes his head, unsure. “I don’t know if that will work. And I _still_ don’t know what I’m going to go as!” 

Jaemin laughs. The boy taps at his phone for a minute before holding his screen up to Jeno’s line of vision. On it displays some text reading “ _Order placed. Matching Mario Brothers Halloween costumes._ ” Jeno isn’t sure whether to laugh along or strangle him. Before he can make a decision, Jaemin starts talking.

“Well, I _am_ sure. And I just ordered our costumes. Let’s go pick ‘em up and get you your mans!”

**Author's Note:**

> just a short little diddy i busted out cause i was really in the spooky spirit :') do leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed! i hope you all have/had a wonderfully haunted halloween with lots of sweets and love!!
> 
> feel free to bother me on [cc](https://curiouscat.me/guanhengs) or [twt](https://twitter.com/renhyuks) as well!
> 
> until next time!! xx


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